Factory Farming / Films / Movies / Films About Diet and Food / Pigs & Pork Industry

What’s For Dinner? The Growth and Impacts of Meat Eating in China

by Jennie Richards · Published February 27, 2018 · Updated April 8, 2020

WHAT’S FOR DINNER? is a short documentary that examines the rapidly growing consumption of meat and other animal products in China. Through interactions with a range of people within Chinese society, the film looks at the impacts this monumental dietary shift is having in terms of sustainability, climate change, public health, food security, and animal welfare. Directed by award-winning filmmaker, Jian Yi, and an all-Chinese film crew, the film documents places, people and events that have never been filmed before in China, and interviews a wide range of people across Chinese society.

Film Length: 28 Minutes

Film Premier: 2011

What You Can Do

1. Stop eating meat, dairy, eggs (and fish) – Reduce the cruelty done to all animals for food by not eating them. Transition to a vegan plant-based diet to improve your health and longevity, the environment and life for animals.

Film Director Jian Yi Discusses the Making of the Film

Six Years On — Visiting the People and Places Six Years Later

Watch The Film

Watch on Amazon

Read the What’s For Dinner Viewing Guide, by Brighter Green

Film Director discusses the making of What’s For Dinner

Visit the What’s For Dinner website at www.wfdinner.com (English) or Chinese http://wfdinner.com/主页/

To purchase the film in North America, contact Icarus Film at mail@icarusfilms.com, www.icarusfilms.com

Learn more about the film on Brighter Green

Quotes From the Film

“Eating meat is more a desire of the mind, not the body.”

“In China, consumption of meat and other animal products is rising. About 500 million pigs are eaten in China each year and animal agriculture is becoming increasingly industrialized.”

“China now consumes twice as much meat as the U.S. Given the size of China’s economy and population, what China eats affects not only China … but also the world.”

“In Jiangzi, Farmer at Ten Thousand Pig Farm, “In several years, there won’t be any small pigs farms like ours.”

“In the past, pigs weren’t fed processed feed like this, that is produced in factories. Some contains hormones.”

“In order to make more money, pigs have to grow fast. In the past, it took at least six to eight months for pigs to grow to 220 pounds. But now it takes only 4.5 months.”

“They use hormones, those businessmen aren’t doing the right thing. It’s a case of human beings causing harm to human beings.”

“Meat and dairy now come increasingly from Intensive Breeding Operations. Intensive Factory Farms have several distinctive features: 1) They are high density, the animals suffer and feel stressed, 2) Toxic chemicals in their waste like ammonia, may cause diseases that lead to pathological changes in the animal’s body or they become very lame, 3) Small farmers lose their jobs.”

Livestock Farmer, “Now there are almost no individual farmers, because there are many other job opportunities now.”

“Pork is the most important part of China’s meat market. We kill 60 pigs here in Jishui County alone every day.”

“The slaughtering is done manually, it’s done with a knife. We are processing 25-55 pigs total per day.”

“When I was young I could not even see meat. We used to only eat meat once a week. In the 30 years since China’s reform and opening up, we have more meat than we had before.”

Beijing – “When I started to become a vegetarian, people thought I was crazy. I realized that we have to be in harmony with life. Vegetarianism was a fundamental change. And now I’m vegan.”

“I am a vegetarian because animals are my friends. Yes, I wish everyone were a vegetarian, it’s just because I enjoy this lifestyle so much.”

“It was in the 1990s that meat became so common. And McDonald’s and KFC entered China during our economic reform. This kind of Western culture because a symbol of good health.”

“The steady increase in population is causing a larger demand for meat. The huge demand leads to intensive breeding.”

“Guangdong Province – The water smells horrible, it’s all the waste from the factory farms – we used to wash our clothes in this water, now we can’t even stand the stench. The water is so contaminated.”

“When the Chinese people ate less meat, there were far fewer cases of cancer, heart disease, hypertension and fewer obese people. Now China has 30-50 million people with diabetes, ranking 2nd in the world.”

“300 million Chinese are either obese or very overweight.”

“And today, China’s GHG are comparable to the U.S.”

“In a speech on global warming in 2008, Pachauri suggested three ways each of us could help climate change, 1) Eat less meat and animal products, 2) Bike more and use public transportation, 3) Buy less, less materialism.”